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The Real Reason Why You Can’t Lose Weight

By
Elise
Minton Tabin
, Executive Beauty Editor
| January 09, 2017

As you get older, it becomes harder and harder to keep weight off. New York plastic surgeon B. Aviva Preminger, MD, says, “With
age, there’s a decrease in our physical abilities, which leads to a
decrease in our metabolic rate.” It becomes more difficult to
keep up with exercise, so muscle mass is lost and calories aren’t
burned as efficiently. Dr. Preminger adds, “There is also a decrease
in growth hormone, testosterone and estrogen levels, which slows metabolism and
can cause women to put on weight. Women tend to struggle with the transition to
menopause and the metabolic slowdown that it brings.”
While genetics play a role in how much fat we carry and our number of fat
cells, the aging process can lead to fat that sticks around.

But that’s not the only reason why it
becomes hard to loose weight. Your hormones play a larger role in fat storage
than you may think. “There are receptors on each fat
cell that are affected by hormonal influences (menstrual cycles, pregnancy and
menopause) throughout a woman’s life that cause fat cells to
swell or shrink,” explains New York plastic surgeon Kenneth R. Francis, MD. “The
hormone estrogen is prominent in the body, especially during child-bearing
years. As s result, fat cells in the lower abdomen and hip area become more
affected by estrogen, which can cause fat to be stored in these areas.”
As estrogen levels decline with age, some women to start to gain weight post
menopause, while others lose weight. La Jolla, CA, plastic surgeon Robert Singer, MD, says, “Weight gain and loss often depends on hormone
replacement therapies, which can cause fluctuations.”

Even if you diet and workout, it’s
important to understand the diet to ratio exercise. One of the biggest and
most common misunderstandings in trying to lose weight is how much food to eat
and how much you should work out. Nutritionist Amy Shapiro, founder of Real
Nutrition NYC, says, “I always tell my clients that
they can’t outrun a bad diet. The amount of fat your body has
largely depends on what you put in your mouth; the other 25 percent is from
fitness. You can burn off calories in a spin class, but many people eat enough
to refuel their body with these calories throughout the day. Or, they eat more
than the calories burned, which then doesn’t provide a deficit in
calories that’s needed to lose fat.” So even if you work out,
you need to eat right. The best way to figure out how many calories to take in,
as well as which foods to eat, is to use a specialized app or meet with an
exercise physiologist who can help you
devise the right plan.

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